A man has lost his battle with the council and been ordered to lower the 'hideous' and 'ugly' eight-foot-high fence he built at his grade II listed home.
Matt Hubbard and his wife are devastated by the criticism, telling one neighbour: 'It is so sad, we felt we had done everything right and by the book.'
The couple and their daughter moved into the charming cottage in Mickleover, Derbyshire, three-and-a-half years ago which they had bought for £330,000 after 'falling in love with it.'
For decades, the garden to the side of the 19th century property had become a wilderness with trees blocking out the light, bushes straying onto the road and litter tossed into it from the neighbouring Tesco.
The pair had spent thousands of pounds cleaning up the garden and built the fence for privacy and to ward off fly-tippers.
